


A Little Moon-Madness

by Tansyflower



Category: Helix Waltz (Video Game)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-02
Updated: 2020-02-02
Packaged: 2021-02-27 18:54:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22520584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tansyflower/pseuds/Tansyflower
Summary: Barris walks Magda home from Maggie's birthday party, and Barris proves that he can flirt like a Sakan.
Relationships: Magda Ellenstein/Barris Sakan
Comments: 2
Kudos: 58





	A Little Moon-Madness

“So, you’re going to marry Maggie Longlan?” Magda Ellenstein asked, trying to disguise any hurt feelings. Stop feeling as if your heart is going to break! A few kind words under moonlight and a few balls escorted to because of your own stupidity does not an epic romance mean!  
To his credit, Barris Sakan, who was kind enough to walk her home barely faltered in his response. 

“Maggie Longlan...?” He shook his head slowly. “She’s a nice girl. Clever, too. But a bit…brash for my tastes.”  
“You don’t like brashness?” Magda questioned, hoping desperately that he would not turn out to be one of those men who thought women ought to be seen and not heard. He hadn’t seemed like the type, especially after he had told her that he considered her to be mighty, but despite possessing what one might call a crush on him, Magda rationalized that one never truly knew with men. Even Barris, whose reputation for honesty, if not sheer bluntness was known throughout Finsel.  
Barris gave her one of his penetrating stares.

“If I was, say, to use yourself as a basis of comparison, what might I say about brashness? I perceive that Miss Longlan is brash in both dress and manner, while yourself, you are always considering and weighing your choices, your speeches and actions. That to me is the wiser course and more likely to allow you to achieve your objectives. I would be lying if I did not admit that a person who carefully considers every action would be more appealing to me as a partner than one who did not.” At this he stopped, perhaps fearing that he had said too much.

"Did he just..?!" Magda thought and was relieved that the enveloping darkness hid her blush.

“So, you do not like brashness?” she responded, hating the slight quiver in her voice.  
At this, Barris chuckled drily.

“I would rather say that I live with brashness and must clean up the after-effects on a daily basis.”

“You mean, Juven and Barbara?”  
He nodded.

“And my fool of a brother as well.”  
Barris stopped suddenly, forcing Magda, whose arm was tucked through his to stop as well.  
He turned to face her, stepping rather closer than propriety admitted.

“We Sakans have often been considered to be moon-mad, with our legacy of poets and lovers who are fools to the enslaving passions of love and desire. I have tried my entire life to not live up to that legacy, to be a sober and forthright man worthy of respect.”  
He leaned forward, close enough to her face that she could almost count his freckles. There was a look in his eyes, an intensity or hunger that she had never seen before making her stomach swoop and her body to feel almost uncomfortably heated.  
He raised a hand, trembling, she noticed and gently tucked a strand of errant hair behind her ear. He was so close that she could feel his breath upon her face.

“Would you suspect me, Lady Ellenstein, to be affected by the same such moon-madness?” he murmured in a low and tender voice. Thinking he meant to kiss her, Magda parted her lips and leaned forward. He pulled back as she leaned forward and turned away. Magda tried to ignore the hurt feeling of rejection as he spoke.  
“I… should get you home. It is…it is rather late, and your mother will doubtless be worried.”  
Magda let out a giggle that immediately felt false to her own ears.

“She once said that you were the only man in Finsel that she would let me have tea with at midnight.”  
Barris turned to face her. Smiling, he looked younger, as if the burdens placed upon him as Finsel’s Minister of Justice at the age of barely thirty had been lifted from him.

“Does she? Well, I am…that is to say…” He fumbled for words. “I most certainly intend to be honourable…do things properly. But to say so much and to be completely honest…I am not so honourable as to not be tempted by…Oh! Damn! What am I saying?”   
Magda stared at him curiously. The only time she had ever seen him this flustered was when she had nearly been kidnapped by the Paola assassin and her life had been in danger at the time.  
They continued walking in awkward, embarrassed silence.  
Magda found the nerve to speak first.

“I do appreciate your honesty Mr. Barris. Especially since I feel as if I cannot be honest with anyone. I must memorize their interests, their preferred topics of conversation, their opinions, so that I may be a blank slate, a perfect mirror to reflect themselves back to them. I do not know who my real friends are, because I cannot truly be a real friend to them.”

“Be honest with me.” Barris murmured.

“I’m sorry. Pardon?” Magda could not believe her ears.

“You can be honest with me. I will not think less of you if you have opinions that differ from mine, if you occasionally want to talk about fashion instead of business or politics, if you prefer cats to dogs. I want to know your true thoughts. You can be safely assured that I will not think the less of you if our opinions differ. I would find it much more interesting to discuss our differences than to always be in a state of false agreement.”

“Really? No one has ever said such a thing to me before.”

“I hope that you will consider me your true, real friend who can allow you some respite from the constant dissembling needed for success in Finsel’s social scene. I want you to be able to confide in me. To be the person who you can safely tell of the past and share your desires for the future with. That is…another selfish desire of mine.”

“Thank you.” Magda murmured, feeling oddly close to tears and if words were inadequate to all the emotions swirling within her.

“Ah…we have arrived.”  
Magda looked up to see the familiar sight of the Ellenstein townhouse and her mother’s light still burning in her window.

“Thank you for walking me home.”  
Barris seemed to have other matters on his mind than simply bidding her a polite good night, as he took up the thread of their earlier conversation.

“Speaking of Maggie Longlan.”

“We weren’t?” said Magda, now confused.  
Barris smiled at her new-found honesty.

“As I said, speaking of Miss Longlan. They say that it is essential in any, dare I say, intimate, relationship to discuss one’s past with the other involved party. I have not,” he said, emphasizing the not “discussed anything of the sort with Miss Longlan.”  
Magda suddenly remembered an earlier conversation of theirs and blushed a bright red. Her mouth fell open in shock and realization.

“Furthermore, when faced with two maidens possessing similar names, even I can tell the difference between the two.”  
He paused just long enough to note the surprise evident on her features, before sweeping an elegant bow. 

“I wish you a pleasant evening Lady Ellenstein.” A very Sakan-like and very un-Barris like glint of amusement was evident in his eyes before he turned and strode away.  
Magda stood frozen to the stoop for several long moments, trying to process the events of the evening.  
"Did he just…! Oh!" She thought frantically for the second time that night.  
Eventually, the door behind her creaked open, and the Ellenstein’s maid Miss Vivian poked her head out.

“Lady Ellenstein? Miss? Shouldn’t you come inside?”  
As if on autopilot, Magda went indoors and handed her wrap to the waiting maid.  
She began to climb the stairs to her bedroom, but the sound of her mother’s door opening caused her to stop in her tracks.

“Mom! How is it that the Sakans can make confessions to girls without turning a single hair?!” she cried out.  
Eliza Ellenstein’s face set in a frown.

“So it was that young viscount? Did you tell Mr. Barris?”

“…Wasn’t the viscount.” Magda muttered shamefacedly, her face still red as she passed her mother.  
Eliza gasped. “Then the Duke must have returned! Well I’ll have some words for him in the morning!”  
Magda, reaching her bedroom door, simply offered a silent shake of her head.

“No? Then who was it?” Eliza muttered to herself, before her bafflement faded from her face, replaced with a small satisfied smile.

“You know, I’ve always loved the colour pink for a wedding.”


End file.
